Her Friends Turned Their Senior Trip Into A Party Weekend, But She’s Still Underage
Now the teen is wondering if canceling the trip makes her the bad guy.
A high school student turned to Reddit after a long-planned senior trip to New York suddenly started looking a lot less fun for her. Now she’s wondering if backing out of the trip makes her the villain of the friend group.
The 16-year-old Redditor explained that she and her friends—who are all 18—have been planning an end-of-school-year trip to New York since last year. They already booked an Airbnb and tickets for classic tourist activities like Broadway shows, flea markets, and art museums.
Originally, the plan was all about sightseeing and exploring the city together. But once her friends started turning 18, the itinerary began to shift.
According to the OP, her friends recently started adding things like clubbing, tattoos, and piercings to the trip. She said she wasn’t against the idea, but pointed out that she legally wouldn’t be able to go to bars or nightclubs.
The Redditor also said she didn’t want to risk sneaking in or using a fake ID. She’s already been accepted to a prestigious university and doesn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize that.
Her friends, however, suggested she simply get a fake ID so she could join them. When she refused, she asked if they could limit the nightlife to just one night so she wouldn’t spend every evening stuck alone at the Airbnb.
That compromise didn’t seem to stick. The OP says her friends hinted they plan to go clubbing multiple nights anyway.
Realizing she might spend half the trip sitting things out, the Redditor told them she might skip the trip entirely. Instead, she said she’d rather plan a senior trip with people doing activities everyone can enjoy.
Her friends didn’t take the news well. They accused her of guilt-tripping them into changing their plans and said canceling now would make the trip more expensive for everyone else.
They also argued she was being dramatic because she could still join the daytime activities they already booked. Still unsure if she’s overreacting, the Redditor asked the internet: would she be wrong to back out now?
The OP's friends accused her of guilt-tripping them into changing their plans and said canceling now would make the trip more expensive for everyone else.
AI-generated imageHere’s the original post by Reddit user u/p00pmeow.
Hi! I (F16) and my friends (All F18) have been planning an end-of-school-year senior trip to New York since last year. We've all been super excited, already booked our Airbnb and bought tickets. I am a year younger than all of them because I started high school a year early, and originally, on our trip, we had planned some sightseeing stuff, Broadway plays, visiting the flea markets, art museums, basically like all the kind of toursity new york things.Recently, with all of them turning 18, they've wanted to add things like nightclubs, tattoos, and piercings together on the docket. I'm in no way opposed to this and said it could be fun if we got, like, matching stick-and-pokes or whatever. However, I wouldn't really be able to visit bars and clubs with them due to being underage. They said they want to go to professional places and stuff and get things done right. I said that's fine, but to limit this to one night tops, so I'm not just sitting at the Airbnb every single night alone doing nothing.I honestly would love to go because I do like parties and dancing and stuff, but I've also been accepted to a prestigious university, and I don't want to have anything on my record for the risk of getting it rescinded. I said that if they feel strongly about going clubbing and stuff, I would try to just like sneak in with them, but they all told me that they don't want to risk getting kicked out of the clubs, so I should just get a fake ID.This is something that could probably get me into legal trouble and I don't want to risk it. When I told them that, they kind of made it sound like they planned to go clubbing and stuff much more than we had originally intended, meaning I would basically be spending at least half the nights of the trip doing nothing. I told them that I hope they have fun, but if they're going to plan things I can't really participate in, I won't come on the trip with them because I'd rather go on a senior trip with other people where we do things that we all enjoy.My friends are now saying I'm guilt tripping them into changing their plans and it's unfair if I cancel this close to the trip because it makes it a lot more expensive for everyone else. They also said that I'm over exaggerating a bit because I can still do all the daytime activities we had originally planned (we still have Broadway tickets and stuff like that), so I'm being overdramatic.TL;DR: AITA if I back out of a senior trip, causing all my friends to have to pay significantly more, because they planned activites I can't participate in?Let's see how the Reddit community reacted.
joefunk76Y'all need to grow up first.
fantasticgoat7171
NTA.
BriefHorror
Do they realize they're underage too?
CarineM9
If they're not 21, they're not going clubbing.
Mojito_enjoyer
This sounds like a disaster in the making.
Sea_Chocolate_3537
You're more mature than they are.
McKillsey
Your friends are just trying to make you feel bad.
henicorina
Do they all have fake ID's?
Outside-Ad-1677
You’re smart for not wanting to go on the trip.
These_Economist3523
Your friends are extremely rude.
capricornicopia-
They're setting themselves up for disappointment.
tityanya
Seems like you are the only responsible one.
Future-Ear6980
This is a valuable life lesson.
SarcasticAnd
It's not worth it.
No-Chocolate5288
They should feel guilty for excluding you.
Competitive_Camel410
In the end, the Redditor says she isn’t trying to control her friends’ plans—she just doesn’t want to spend half the trip sitting alone while everyone else is out having fun. At the same time, her friends insist she’s overreacting and making things harder by threatening to cancel so close to the trip.
Now the internet is weighing in on whether the teen is being practical or whether she should just go along for the ride and enjoy the parts of the trip she can. Either way, this senior getaway might end up being remembered less for Broadway and sightseeing—and more for the unexpected friendship drama.